


To the Sea and Back

by violet_daydreams



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: And they do all kinds of nasty illegal things, F/M, Female pronouns for Pidge, Lance is human, M/M, Sea Monsters, Shiro has PTSD, Shiro has a magic arm, The Galra make up the faery mafia, Wizard Hunk, fae, merfolk, mermaid allura, merman Keith, merman coran
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-19
Updated: 2017-01-23
Packaged: 2018-08-15 20:50:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8072299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/violet_daydreams/pseuds/violet_daydreams
Summary: As it would turn out, when you're a merman, maintaining a relationship with a human becomes difficult. When Keith decides to give up his tail to live with Lance on land, things change for the both of them permanently. While Keith must learn to assimilate into human society, Lance learns to deal with how much of the world around him involves the supernatural. Along the way, they have run ins with the faery mafia that inspires them to try to change their home for the better.





	1. Miscommunication Mishaps

It’s a beautiful summer day. The sun is shining, birds are singing, and the light breeze keeps the heat from becoming overwhelming. It’s a perfect day to be down at the shore. Which is exactly why Keith has been impatiently waiting for Lance to show for the past hour. Water crashes against the rocks he had chosen to sit on and the salty air feels so homely. His toes brush lightly against the sea as he stares out over the horizon, thinking of all he had chosen abandoned for Lance. Lance who’s a thorn in his side. Lance who he can playfully bicker with for hours. Lance who’s so ordinary, so human. Lance who makes fun of his hair when it dries during their long talks. Lance who puts real excitement in his life. Lance who makes his stomach do flips and his heart skip beats.

A low whistle pulls Keith from his thoughts and he quickly looks to either side of him to find nothing. And when he cranes his neck to see behind him, the beach is as barren as it was when he arrived. It’s not until Lance heaves himself up from the water so that he can rest his arms on either side of Keith’s legs that he actually notices him. He’s completely soaked and Keith hadn’t even heard Lance splashing around in the water before he emerged. That’s troubling for a multitude of reasons.

Lance, however, is all smiles. This is a big moment and he’s ready to start whatever journey joining Keith in his home will lead to. The stories had peaked his curiosity enough to dare entertain the idea of leaving his family behind for Keith. “Did you miss me, babe?” He kisses Keith’s stomach, before looking up into his eyes. The lack of response is a little worrisome, but he’s spent enough time with Keith to know he gets caught up in his own head sometimes. Especially when Lance keeps him waiting.

“What’s wrong?” Lance questions, resting his head lightly in Keith’s lap, his blue tail flicking at the water. It’s when Lance puts his head down that he notices that way Keith sits leaves a small gap between his thighs and that he can feel feet pressing lightly against his torso. The excitement of seeing Keith wears away in that moment and he suddenly understands why Keith looks a mixture of confused and annoyed.

Merfolk don’t have thighs.

After a moment of silence and a hard pinch to his own arm, Keith runs a hand over his face, brows knit tightly together. “Please tell me this is some sort of sick convoluted joke,” He hissed out, more to himself than to Lance. Was this the Fates way of toying with him? Picking the most important day of his life to have something go completely and utterly wrong?

“Alright, it’s some sort of convoluted joke.” Lance gives a bitter laugh, before sucking in a shaky breath, “I should have planned this better.” He looks off to the side, frown set heavily. As if this was his fault. That he is the reason things have gone terribly wrong.

In an instant, Keith’s hands cup Lance’s face and he gently strokes at his cheek.“We both should have; this isn’t your fault.” It hurts to see Lance blaming himself because this is obviously both of their faults. They should have talked it out, then they wouldn’t be here. “Let’s just agree that we’ll never try to surprise each other with anything this important again.” While he doubts anything will ever be as important as giving up everything they’ve ever known for one another, it’s still something he needs to get out. Because as wonderfully endearing as it is to know that Lance would give up everything to join him beneath the sea, it’s enough to make his heart drop into his stomach. There’s nothing for either of them down there even if they do stick together.

“C’mon, you have to admit they were great surprises. The timing was just incredibly shitty,” He’s wearing that beautiful grin that Keith can’t bear to see him without. Keith has to give Lance this shining moment to feel proud of what he had in store. He doesn’t need to know that Keith can’t see himself being happy spending eternity down there.

“I don’t think it’s the thought that really counts here.” Little surprises are always fine. Nothing bad came from giving Lance a shell necklace to match his own a while back. But this is too much. The regret had yet to fully sink in and marinate. He’d look back at this and feel shame for quite some time. For now, he’ll just have to shake it off and focus. “This isn’t going to be an easy fix. For merfolk, this is usually a one time deal,” he continued. He had been told numerous times that there was no going back. It was rare for merfolk to leave for a human lover, but for one to leave the sea and then return? It was absolutely unheard of.

“It can’t be that hard to reverse, right?” Lance looks up at him wide eyed, as if he didn’t expect it to be hard. As if he didn’t know this was supposed to be a one time gig. Then it hits Keith, humans don’t learn these things. That the same symbolism and the deep cultural connotations don’t exist for them. He tries to shake off the idea that Lance doesn’t quite get it. He doesn’t have to, it’s still a big deal. Lance was going to give up everything for him, things that Keith never had, like his family.

“I wouldn’t know. Like I said, it’s usually a one time deal,” He rubbed the back of his neck, staring up at the sky as he silently cursed the gods of his people. “I’d imagine it’s going to be harder to fix than the initial change.”

“We can pull it off.” Lance’s certainty is enough to convince Keith that this might actually be possible. After all, they make a good team. What’s to keep them from getting a happy ending? “Let’s make sure only one of us does it this time. I vote for getting my legs back.”

“I won’t object to that. The land sounds a lot more interesting down there.”

Lance breathes a sigh of relief he hadn't noticed he had been holding, “Thank god, this tail is so. . . weird.”

For some reason, Keith can’t take this as anything other than an insult. Because holy shit, tails were so much easier to use than legs. He swallows down the rage swelling up inside of him quickly because this is the last thing he needs to worry about. Instead, he quirks his brow, leaning down towards him with an incredulous stare. “Are you trying to tell me legs aren’t weird?”

“Excuse you, legs are much more normal than this,” He flicks his vibrant blue tail up in the air for emphasis, splashing Keith with water. In turn, Keith rolls his eyes, lightly flicking Lance’s shoulder in a weak attempt at getting even.

Keith scoffs, lightly nudging Lance’s hip with his foot. “Do you know how many times I’ve fallen already?” He had spent some time trying to figure out the ropes of walking after he’d put on the pair of pants that had been left on shore for him. How many face plants did he even do into the sand this morning? It’s not something he likes to think back on.

Lance, on the other hand, revels in the thought of his boyfriend struggling to use his newfound legs. In fact, he even laughs. It’s soft, but noticeable enough for Keith to shoot him a half hearted glare. To spare himself from Keith’s inevitable sly payback, he wraps his arms around his waist and flashes an adoring smile, before trying to explain his own misfortunes without going into too much detail. “The tail is just as hard to use, babe. You know I’m a great swimmer and I can barely control where I’m going with this thing!”

Instead of wasting more time complaining about legs, Keith carefully pulls Lance’s arms off from around his waist. “Then that’s going to make this trip much more interesting.” He pushes off the rock and dives down into the water, nose wrinkling at the feeling of wet clothing clinging to his skin. He decides almost immediately to peel off the tight shorts, leaving him in a pair of fish patterned boxers. While the concept of wearing smaller pants inside a pair of pants continues to baffle him, he's thankful that they let him continue to adhere to standards of human decency.

It’s not too deep by the rocks, though Lance still feels a pang of worry. He has no idea if Keith can even swim right now, let alone journey to wherever they need to go. And if they're going under water how is Keith supposed to breathe. “Just try to keep in mind you can drown now,” he pauses, chewing the inside of his cheek. “I think?” It wasn't as if Keith had ever taken him on deep sea adventures. He couldn't be sure what would happen. “Did you just get legs or is it the full human package?” Part of him prays he just shifts between legs and a tail depending if his legs get wet like on H2O: Just Add Water he'd seen a few times when was younger. If not because it seems cool, then because it would make this trip a lot less nerve wracking.

“I'm not sure if say it's the full human package.” He can still telepathically talk to sea creatures, though he's found the jellyfish near the shore weren't all that interested in talking to him. Not to mention, he can still feel magic coursing through his veins and he's become aware that not all humans are capable of supernatural feats. “But I do only have legs. Just stick close to me or I'm dead. It's part of why I never brought you down there before.” It only occurs to him after the fact that he speaks that he may have put a little too much pressure on Lance. Considering Keith’s own magical abilities, it wouldn't be hard to keep himself alive. However, he still would rather rely on the natural magic merfolk give off to keep humans alive beneath the surface, should the merfolk want to keep them breathing. As long as he's within five feet of merfolk that don't intend to kill him, there's no need to rely on his own talent.

Lance lets out a deep breath, after several mental reassurances Keith would be fine. “Alrighty then.” He grabs Keith’s hand tightly in his own, lacing their fingers together. He can't lose him. He won't lose him. “Lead the way.”


	2. Customs and Castles

It's hard for Lance to keep from laughing while Keith attempts to swim, though luckily he succeeds. Keith seems to have figured out that trying to swim like a mer won't cut it, but now he seems to look like he's just awkwardly flailing his limbs. Though, Keith contributes some of the blame to Lance on that one for keeping his right hand locked in an iron tight grip. For the most part, he points in the proper direction and lets Lance drag him along the right path. It goes considerably faster than Keith trying to work out exactly how to use his legs, even with the frequent jerk or wrong turn from Lance along the way.

Lance stops abruptly when they reach the ruins of a stone castle. Was is the place Keith grew up? It was large, grand, enthralling. He wanted to learn the stories of the broken walls and the rooms caving in on themselves. Was it natural? Or was it the doing of one of the many creatures Keith has spoken of. He's almost jealous that Keith was raised in a place that must be filled to the brim with stories. Not to mention it’s a fricking _castle_. Lance was almost positive that Keith took living a Disney princess style life for granted. After a few moments marveling he looked over at Keith with a glimmer in his eyes. “You live here? Or at least some place like this, right?”

“I'm _supposed_ to live here,” Is all Keith has to say on the matter. Rather than giving Lance time to dwell on that, he swims away from his problems both mentally and physically. The faster he swims, the less he has to talk about life for him under the sea. “The merman we’re looking for should be here,” Keith says to break the silence between them. Rather than the typical peaceful silence, it felt tense, at least, on Keith’s end of things.

While Lance is sure there's more to Keith’s living situation now isn't the time to push for answers. They'll have a long time together to talk about everything. Surely he’ll open up when the two of them are alone together, living out a long healthy life. For now, he plays along with the change in subject. “Who are we even looking for anyway?”

“Well, I don't know how _you_ got a tail, but I had to go to a powerful sorcerer to get legs.” Though maybe he should genuinely question how Lance had gotten a potion or spell to change himself. Lance had never mentioned knowing any witches or wizards before, so where would he have gotten something Coran had deemed incredibly complex?

“We have people with magic on land too,” Lance states matter-of-factly, as if it were a fact Keith was unaware of. Keith is certain Lance wouldn’t believe in magic if it weren’t for him. The reaction to seeing his tail last year had been one of both shock and denial. Lance had actually pulled at his tail in a vain attempt to prove Keith a liar.

“Obviously. I mean, clearly _that_ ,” He motions to Lance’s tail with his free hand, “wouldn't be possible without magic.” One glance at Lance tells him his lover definitely wants to fire back, but Keith decides to change the subject. “Let's just hope Coran doesn't make us jump through hoops to get what we need.”

“Jump through hoops? What do you mean jump through hoops?” That can be a range of things which Lance would like to be thoroughly educated on before he gets into the thick of things. He has no idea how things really work around here. Keith seems to do his damndest to avoid talking about things down here that make his life so much more unique than Lance’s. It’s one of the only things Lance hates about him.

“Nothing too horrible,” He pauses, brows furrowing slightly. Maybe that isn’t specific enough. The human idea of not too horrible may differ greatly from that of merfolk. “Usually it’s as simple as gathering supplies for healing charms and spells to be used later. Other times it can be as much as going up against powerful cave dwelling creatures for their scales and eggs, which could effectively kill both of us. It varies.”

“Well _I_ could handle that,” Lance smirks, puffing out his chest.

“I could barely handle it myself and in your current state you’re struggling to swim. Let’s just try not to think about it unless it comes up.”

“Right…” Lance does his best to hide his pout. While, admittedly, Keith was right, it wasn’t the kind of thing he wanted to cave in on so easily. He was brave. He was capable. And there was no reason he couldn’t fight monsters better than Keith could. “Let’s just go find your magic man.”

Keith nodded and squeezed Lance’s hand tighter as they swam into the palace. He looked around briefly, trying to re-familiarize himself with the place he rarely returned to. If Coran wasn’t in the workshop, Keith wasn’t sure exactly where to find him. He lacked the familiarity with the place that most mers had.

“What’s your magic man look like anyway?” Lance asks softly, after noticing Keith remaining silent and pensive for what he considered to be a few moments too long. He prefers to keep Keith from getting too caught up in his own head.

Keith smiles slightly when he thinks of Coran. There was absolutely no one he found himself closer to these days than Coran. He had supported and nurtured Keith through his worst times. Without Coran, he would be dead. It's a simple fact that Keith never allows himself to forget. “Bright orange tail, lighter orange hair, and a surprisingly nice mustache. You’d know him when you see him.”

“You mean that guy?” Lance points at a mer matching that general description swimming not too far from them.

“Exactly that guy,” Keith says, surging forward after Coran, dragging Lance behind him despite how much weaker his human legs are for swimming. As he shoves past mers without a second thought, he ignores the glares and snide remarks that the others do nothing to hide. Humans aren’t welcome here. Not anymore. And a new never before seen merman clasping hands with a strange human was absolutely unheard of. Merfolk needed _permission_ for that in this colony. Humans could be dangerous. Not only are they fishermen, but other creatures, far more dangerous ones, take similar forms. And if those other creatures find a way back to the ocean of their own will, life for the seafaring folk would be changed indefinitely.

When Keith stops abruptly at what appears to be a dead end, Lance looks at him with worry. Have they lost the overly orange mer somehow? It looks as if they hit a dead end. And then Keith hold up a finger, before reaching up to what looks like a ledge of the eroding rocks of the castle walls and suddenly heaves himself upwards, legs flailing slightly as he raises up past Lance's line of sight. And then he's completely gone, leaving Lance to wait.

Lance runs a hand through his hair, feeling a mixture of things. Confused, abandoned, lost, and most importantly scared. Because he's surrounded by fish people that don't like him by association with Keith and Keith just left him behind in the water. Where did he even go? Why did it require physical exertion? Where exactly should Lance be grabbing if he wants to follow after him. As he reaches up to grab the wall, he can feel Keith’s firm calloused hands wrap around his wrist and tug him upwards. With caution, Lance tries to propel himself farther from the wall to avoid nasty scrapes and bruises that would mar otherwise flawless skin.

“I can't believe you'd just--” Lance’s outburst is cut off by his own stunned silence. For something so clearly underwater, he's finding the amount of liquid and moisture in the room oddly nonexistent. As his gaze sweeps the room, he notices that there appears to be some sort of invisible dome around them, as he can see fish swimming above them and the gentle ripple of water moving against the energy field, which only serves to remind Lance of the glass shark tunnel his sister married beneath. Except, when Lance leans to his left to try to touch the barrier that reminds his of his favorite part of the aquarium, his hand phases through. Magic? It must be.

“Keith?” Coran approaches the two on foot, wearing a tunic of sorts. It’s more akin to rags than anything else, considering clothing was something a man with the lower body of a fish really didn’t need on a typical day. He’s dressed for Lance’s sake, knowing that human society isn't too fond of full frontal nudity. Thankfully the prophets were able to warn him of his guests before they had arrived. The other warnings attached, Coran isn’t quite so fond of. He wants to tell Keith, but he knows the boy he raised. He knows this is a battle Keith has to do alone, whenever it hits him up on the dry land.

Pushing down his worries for Keith’s sake, Coran smiles, pulling Keith up to his feet and into a bear hug. “I didn't expect to see you again for quite some time.” In truth, even if it hadn’t been long, Keith’s few hours away to him have been painful. He had taken the boy in a few days after he had hatched, taking Keith in under his wing as his own after his mother had abandoned him. It’s hard to lose his son, to be the one that strips away his potential to live enterally and leave him with pain for daring to give up his beautiful tail for legs. But he loves him, so he lets him go.

“Neither did I,” Keith says softly, solmely. They had said their goodbyes and that made seeing each other harder. They would have to say goodbye again.

Coran clears his throat, attention turning to the mer on the ledge separating the water from his above ground workshop. “You must be that Lance boy Keith had told me so much about!” He smiles, biting back bitter feelings. This is the boy that’s the reason his son is going to part with him over.

“Yeah?” Lance rubbed the back of his neck, feeling awkward witnessing the bittersweet display of affection. It’s strange having someone know who he is without knowing a thing about them. Why did Keith never tell him about Coran? The two were clearly close.

“You’re a bit…” Coran trails off, thinking for a moment, “different than I was picturing.”

“Different how?” Lance questions, his nervousness creeping into his tone.

“I was picturing more legs,” He admits, bending down to be closer to Lance’s level. He looks him over quickly, deciding he looks safe enough be down here. He doesn’t have the slightly pointed ears of a fae or the faint smell of wet dog on him like a werewolf. Keith should have little to worry about. “After all, it seemed essential yesterday when I worked on the potion that Keith have legs to leave the palace to be with you.”

“I was human yesterday. But we happened to have the same idea at the same time,” Lance admits, hanging his head bashfully.

Coran laughs softly, patting Lance on the back. “Well, it’ll make for quite the story to tell.” Assuming that the two of them stay together anyway. While it’s clear they love each other, that they want to commit, love doesn’t always last forever. But Lance is good for Keith, Coran knows that much. “Is there anything I can help you boys with then?”

“Actually, we were hoping you could give me legs again? Life would be much easier if we both have the same limbs.” Lance wonders if what he’s asking is going to be too much. He can tell these two are close, maybe he wants Keith to stay.

“I’ll never understand why you all chose the surface.” Keith cringes at the bittersweet tone to Coran’s voice. It’s a reminder he’s not the first to leave Coran because of the love of a human. “I’ll help you, but you’ll have to do something for me in return.”

“Wait, wait, wait. Is _this_ common?” Sure, Lance assumed that they weren’t the first to decide to do this. But Coran seems to speak about this like it’s a normal occurrence.

“Well, not exactly. But I've been around for quite some time and it always goes this way.” Coran keeps up the fake smile, despite the pang he gets from thinking of the loved ones lost to the sea. He clears his throat, switching to a topic that he could handle with far more ease: magic, “The spells aren't difficult to reverse. But the ingredients for the spell are a little more difficult to find.”

For a moment, Lance can only stare. How _old_ is Coran? How many people had left him? It’s probably rude to outright ask him either of those questions. Especially when Keith, who clearly felt awkward here, was right there, about to leave Coran. So, instead of accidentally coming off as rude, he goes along with Coran’s change in subject. “How difficult are these things to find? I could find _anything_ , I just have to know what I’m up against.”

“Well, since you’re offering--” Coran begins, cut off by the sound of Keith groaning. Why did Lance have to frame it like they were willing to do anything? Keith, personally, had some boundaries on how far he was willing to go to get his boyfriend a pair of legs. “Oh, hush up, Keith. All I need you to do is steal some eggs from the Sortena den. No biggie! It should be completely safe!”

  
Keith can tell this is going to be a long day.


	3. A Song to Soothe the Beast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where Keith is nonchalant, Lance holds worries.

“If Coran is so certain the thing is supposed to be sleeping, why are we going to the armory?” Lance asks as Keith pulls him along to the place in question. A glance at the floor of the palace (which Keith has dared to  _ walk  _ on barefooted) tells him it must be painful with sharp rocks and shells digging into Keith’s feet. And yet, Keith shows no sign of pain. Aside from the grimace on his face, that is, but he’s been wearing that since they left Coran’s workshop. So, that’s likely just frustration at the task at hand above anything else.

Keith rolls his eyes, “ _ Supposed to be _ , Lance. Those were the key words. It’s always better to be safe than sorry.” Especially with a giant sea creature who would be  _ unbelievably  _ pissed to find her eggs being stolen. “Would you like her to wake up while we’re in there unarmed?” They would be dead, so very dead, if they were to be seen by Sortena. Her den was off limits, the mers of this area know that. And yet, Coran asks this of them. Does he want them to die? Keith hopes not.

“Good point,” Lance says, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. Maybe he should have thought that much through. The seas are so much more dangerous than he used to think, he has to start keeping in mind worse things than shark attacks can happen.

“I know.” Keith steps up into the armory with a small grunt. With the dilapidated steps being practically nonexistent, it was difficult despite the water around them. He is trying to keep himself grounded, after all, if only to keep from looking like an idiot when he tries to kick his legs to push forward. 

The armory is bigger than Lance would have thought for a bunch of merfolk. Maybe he was expecting something more peaceful from their race? Most of his knowledge of merfolk comes from Disney’s  _ The Little Mermaid _ and he has a feeling that isn’t actually all that accurate now that he’s beneath the sea. If only Keith had actually been willing to tell him about the ocean more in depth during their time together, then maybe he would have had a better idea of what’s going on. 

The armory is, for the most part, lined with swords, spears, and smaller knives bound with magic to the walls or laying upon various shelves and tables. Blades. Something Lance isn’t all too skilled with. In fact he’s not remotely skilled with blades. Guns have always been far easier for him to maneuver. “Underwater guns wouldn’t happen to be a thing, would they?” He asks, half jokingly. Because, God, what a lifesaver would it be if there were?

“No?” Keith raises a brow, letting go of Lance’s hand to chose a sword of his liking. “What’s a gun?”

“It’s a weapon that shoots things. Y’know, like..” He poorly mimics the motions of shooting a gun, with awful gun shot impressions included.

Keith runs his free hand through his hair, brows furrowing. “No, Lance, I  _ don’t  _ know. Why do your weapons sound like that?”

Lance sighs dejectedly. Of course mers didn’t have guns. “Just forget I asked. What  _ do _ you have?”

“Swords, spears, the likes.” He haphazardly motions to a Harpoon gun on the other side of the room that holds more miscellaneous weapons, far less commonly used. “That thing.”

In a heartbeat, Lance swims over to it and grabs it from its place on the table. It isn’t what he’s used to, but it’s something he’s sure he can use with far more ease than a sword. 

Not quite ready to allow a lull in the conversation, Keith remarks, “This shouldn’t be too bad. Coran’s always had a soft spot for me.” He looks around the wall to find a suitable sheath for the sword, before finding one with precious gems embedded on it. Perfect. 

“So, he’s sending us to the least deadly sea monster?” Lance asks with a nervous smile, hope laced in his words. 

“They’re  _ all  _ deadly, Lance,” he explains, grabbing onto Lance’s hand. “Not to mention, just stealing  _ scales _ from them can break treaties. How do you think she’d feel if she saw us making off with her eggs? We’re lucky she should be sleeping.” Mers have come to memorize the sleeping patterns of creatures such as Sortena. The scales of reptilian-like beauties such as herself held immense value in the community of mers and magic users, which often makes theft worth the risk.

“Oh.” Lance squeezes Keith’s hand gently. “Wait, wait, wait, you guys have treaties with  _ deadly sea creatures _ ?!”

“Yes,” Keith raises a brow, as if it should have been obvious. “Don’t your people make treaties with dangerous things?” He adds.

“Sometimes,” Lance shrugs. “Should we go back to Coran now or…?”

He shakes his head, “No, I know where to go.” Keith squeezes his hand gently, reluctantly releasing the spell that had allowed him to stick to the ground. When he kicks forward, his legs awkwardly scissor and his form is flat out disgraceful, but Lance doesn’t dare comment on it. It’s endearing and he fears if he makes fun of Keith’s near nonexistent swimming skill, he probably won’t swim anymore, the stubborn bastard. 

The swim between them is silent for the most part. Lance takes in the sight of his adorable newly human boyfriend while Keith searches for the cave with his brows furrowed. It’s been some time since Keith has had to look for the Sortena. Things between her and the mers have been peaceful, there’s been no need to invade her space and take from her what doesn’t belong to them. And Coran is asking them to do this just so his lover can become human again.

A few feet away from the mouth of the cave, Keith stops. The entrance easily towers over the both of them and Lance finds himself swallowing hard. The entrance doesn’t look completely natural. It’s as if someone--  _ no, something _ \-- purposefully burrowed the hole into the cave based upon the way the rocks were shaped. Though, maybe Lance is just seeing things. Maybe he’s reading too far into it. 

“Your scales should be bio-luminescent. It’s the only source of light we’ll have in there,” Keith says softly, looking with worry into the dark cavern ahead. He can’t use magic to generate a light source in there. The Sortena would easily sense the influx of magical energy and wake up if Keith dares cast a spell in the cave. Just  _ Keith _ being there would be an influx of magical energy, but not enough to cause alarm.

Lance’s jaw falls agape and his eyes widen, “Wait I’m going to glow?! Like some-- some sort of fish glow stick?!” 

“Fish glow stick? What’s a glow stick……?” Keith shakes his head, dismissing the thought. He has more important things to tell Lance right now. He can ask about human things at any later time after they get home, now they have a giant sea serpent to deal with and it was on Keith to get them both out alive. “Point is, there’s no controlling the glow, especially not if you want to finish this little task.”

“I’m not sure if how nonchalant you are about this is comforting or terrifying.” Lance rubbed the back of his neck.

“Maybe it’s both,” Keith says with a shrug, before swimming into the gaping mouth of the cave, gripping tight to his lovers hand. For a moment or two, they’re shrouded in complete darkness, the only light came from outside of the cave and most definitely wouldn’t reach to Sortena’s place of slumber. Shit, if Lance doesn’t glow, they aren’t going to be able to do this. They can’t do this. They’re going to die if Keith has to use his magic.

And then it happens.

It starts out faint, but Keith can see the way the blue scales start to illuminate in the dark. And in this moment, it hits him how  _ stunning  _ Lance looks as a merman. The way the bright blue light falls on his warm skin, the soft flutter of his gills, his hair (despite it’s short length) wild and flowing with each forward motion. He would miss this because as handsome as he is, seeing Lance like this is breathtaking.

Lance can’t help but notice the way Keith eyes him, feeling a light blush burn against his cheeks. He wants to say something, make some witty flirtatious comment, the kind that made his lover swoon. But his eyes catch sight of the Sortena’s dull scales faintly reflecting the light from his tail as they swam by her side and decides against it. Their lives are more important than getting Keith flustered. 

The Sortena is massive, easily as long as the average cruise ship, Lance notes, but it’s hard to be certain with the way her body coils around itself. She can easily be longer. Her colors, deep blues and greens, are near indistinguishable from the deep darkness of the cave. 

Keith looks down over the open center of her coiled up form, peering closer. It isn't until Lance is directly next to him that he can see an egg’s shadow. And naturally her tail covers it. Great. With caution, he nudges the edge of her tail away from the egg, keeping a careful gaze trained on her one visible eyelid.

A soft grumbled roar nearly makes Lance shriek, a hand flying quickly over his mouth. The Sortena’s eye flutters open and seems to peer directly into his soul. Holy shit her eye is about half of his size. His heart races as he stares into the red fire contained within tired eyes. They’re so going to die. While Keith retrieves the egg with ease, not thinking twice, Lance is locked within his own mind. Positive of his imminent death, Lance does the first thing that comes to mind. 

He sings to soothe the savage beast. 

_ “Life's a show _ __   
_ And we all play our parts _ __   
_ And when the music starts _ __   
_ We open up our hearts _ __   
_ It's all right if some things _ __   
_ Come out wrong _ __   
_ We'll sing a happy song _ _   
_ __ And you can sing along”

As Lance sings, softly sweetly, the beast’s eyes roll back and her eyes fight the sleep begging to win out. Luckily for Lance, his song does the job. They aren’t fish food. His song may not have been a classic melody, but it did its job. The first song to come to mind was from  _ Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s  _ One More With Feeling episode and serves as a firm reminder he has to show Buffy to Keith. The boy might be a supernatural creature, but that doesn’t mean he can’t try to enjoy the beauty of Sarah Michelle Gellar, David Boreanaz, or James Marsters. Hell, maybe Keith won’t know enough to correct depictions of vampires or demons. Maybe he’ll even  _ like  _ the interpretations of supernatural creatures created by the mainstream media. But then again this is  _ Keith _ he’s talking about.    
While Lance is lost in thoughts about television shows, Keith locks arms with him and starts to pull him from the cave. Lance shakes his head to clear his thoughts, swimming alongside him so Keith doesn’t have to pull the full of his weight forward. When free from the mouth of the cave, from death, he wraps his arms firmly around Keith, moreorless cradling him in his arms. Now that he’s learned to maneuver the damn tail, this is just easier. Not to mention, the pink tint settling over Keith’s cheeks is absolutely  _ adorable _ . And when Keith turns his head to kiss Lance’s shoulder gently (likely spotting the content smug look on Lance’s face), he’s certain he has a blush to match.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The aforementioned song is Something to Sing About from Buffy  
> Because I just feel like Lance would really like Buffy? and also show tunes?


	4. Homeward Bound

“Guess who got a monster egg?” Lance asks as he carefully tries to pull Keith up onto the floor of Coran’s workshop, the stubborn man refusing to let go of the egg. For some reason, Keith’s been a bit _possessive_ over the damn thing. It’s just an egg, not to mention an egg that Keith would be giving up to his father figure in mere moments. But maybe he’s the wrong person to judge Keith’s strange and sudden sentimental attachments.

Keith gets up to his feet after Lance helps him up into the room, walking to Coran. He sets the egg down on the table and in exchange he’s handed a small container that’s shaped like an oyster shell. But it’s easy for Keith to tell it’s a fake, considering how well the thing appears to be sealed. The oyster wouldn’t have been able to breath or take in any food like this.

So, logically, there’s a liquid in here Lance will need to take to be human.

“You have _no_ idea how long I’ve been needing one of these!” Coran grins as he runs his hands over the smooth sides of the egg, searching for cracks or signs of life. He’d hate for the quest to have been for naught. But it’s perfect.

Noting that Coran had already handed Keith something, Lance furrows his brows. “What did you need the egg for?” Clearly he was already done with their concoction before they got there, which seemed odd considering he thought the egg was _for_ the reversal.

“Oh, this thing,” Coran gently pats the egg, smiling warmly. “It’s just, these things are so hard to come by and you did say you would do _anything_.”

“You’re kidding!? You said you needed it for the spell!” Lance looks up to Keith, expecting similar disbelief. Unfortunately, Keith doesn’t seem to share in his pain, considering his typical neutral expression.

“Well, not exactly in those words,” Coran scratches the back of his neck, “I’d say it was more of an optional ingredient.”

Before Lance continues an exasperated outburst, Keith steps forward speaking over him. He knows this will easily continue well into the evening if he doesn't diffuse it now, Lance doesn't handle being used like this too well. “Thank you for putting this together for us. It means a lot to me.”

With a dismissive wave Coran moves to wrap an arm over Keith's shoulders, tugging him close and giving him a gentle pat on the shoulders. “It was nothing!” Gods, he's going to miss holding his child in his arms after this. Children really grow up too fast, he supposes. “Now, you two be good to one another,” Despite the smile on his face, he eyes Lance almost threateningly on that note. It's not that Lance doesn't seem like a nice guy, because he most certainly does, but because he knows so little about him. He's practically giving his son away to a complete stranger, it's hard not to be skeptical. It's not as if Keith has the best decision making skills, even if he has proven to have high standards in people. Keith is moving much too quickly. While Coran can check in on them on the shore, it's not the same as actually _being_ there for his child. 

“What did I ever do?!” Lance exclaims, immediately on the defensive. What was with this guy? How could this Nigel Thornberry lookalike be so intimidating?

“Nothing. Yet,” his threatening look quickly fades away, “Well, here's to hoping we never meet down here again!” Because, Gods know, if he sees them again down here, it won't be for good reasons.

“What if we visited in scuba gear?” Lance asks, raising a brow.

“The pressure will literally kill you if you aren’t with another merperson. We’re pretty deep down.” Yeesh, maybe he's being a little too blunt with that one.

“Well then never mind that idea,” Lance looks down sheepishly for a moment, “But I’ll find someway for this guy,” he motions a hand towards his lover, “to visit you.”

“Well, I was thinking more the other way around. I could go to the surface if I wanted to. The right spell will let a human or merperson switch easily between the two naturally,” Coran explains. There's no reason to make the kid overthink a problem that only has supernatural answers. “It makes me wonder why Keith was so adamant against it.”

“Wait that’s a thing?” Lance shoots Keith a scandalized glare.

“Of course it’s a thing. It’s much easier to do that completely stripping him of being a merman,” Coran explains, paying no mind to the way Keith silently pleaded for Coran not to explain.

“Why wouldn’t you want that? Heck, we wouldn’t be in this mess right now!”

Doesn't Lance want to go back to the surface anyway? Why should it matter? “Well, for starters, I thought it’d be romantic if I gave up my tail to be a human for you.” Then again, Lance doesn't know what it's like for a mer to lose their tail. He doesn't understand the cultural relevance and deeper meaning behind a mer permanently giving up their tail. “Two, I didn’t think this would happen. And three, do you know how horrible it would be if someone accidentally spilled water on me in a public place?”

“That would actually be pretty funny. Plus you’d still be losing your tail, just not all the time,” Lance says as if it's really that simple.

“You live by the shore. Somehow I found that reason enough to doubt that I should risk my legs transforming into a tail whenever they get wet,” Keith retorts, rolling his eyes. “Besides, merpeople aren't really a thing most surface people know are actually real. I'd like to keep it that way. Not everyone is going to be as easy to accept that idea as you.” Being studied and/or dissected by human scientists just isn't his idea of fun.

“Fair enough,” Lance shrugs. “Shall we be going?”

Keith hugs Coran tightly, ignoring the tears in his eyes as he whispers a goodbye in a tongue Lance can't comprehend. He then sits on the edge, grabbing Lance’s hand. “We shall.”

The trip back to the shore feels faster. Perhaps because it's much less stressful to journey there now that Lance finally figured out how to work a tail. Maybe it's because he has Keith so close and he knows they can finally start a life together. A nice, normal, healthy life.


	5. Potential Problems

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Returning to the surface isn't quite as pleasant as hoped.

They get back to the rocks they met by in the morning and once again Keith finds himself squirming to climb a rock ledge. After he manages to get up, he rubs lightly at the few places the rocks had scratched against his chest. It's surprisingly more painful than he would have thought. At least Lance doesn't have to go through it with Keith there to help pull him up.

  
While Keith begins to reflect on how uncomfortable the wet mesh of the basketball shorts feels against his skin, Lance realizes something far more important. “Um, Keith….?”

  
He quirks a brow at his boyfriend’s bashful tone. “Yes…?”  
  
“I, uh, didn't bring any clothes.” For a moment, Keith furrows his brows. What does that have to do with anything? And then it occurs to him he’s on land. Nudity is pretty frowned up here. Not that Keith can comprehend what the issue with the human form is. He just takes it as it is.

  
Keith runs a hand over his face, before speaking up, “What do you mean you didn't bring any clothes?”

  
“I didn't bring any clothes,” Lance repeats, running a hand through his hair and biting his lip.

  
Keith groans, deciding to press harder on the matter. “Did you come out here naked when you transformed into a merman?”

  
“No…”

  
“Then why don't you have any?” Irritation seeps through Keith’s far more calm exterior and Lance only seems to curl up on himself at that.

  
“I threw them into the ocean,” He admits, voice barely above a whisper. He can feel Keith’s oncoming judgement boring holes into the very core of his being.

  
“Why?!” Keith’s exclamation was coupled with a sharp crack to his voice.

  
“I wasn't supposed to need them anymore!” Lance whines.

  
“Where the hell am I supposed to find you clothes then?!” Keith can’t help but continue to raise his voice. This is by far one of the more frustrating parts of the day. Sea monsters he can handle, but this is just an obscure argument he never expected to happen.

  
“I don’t know! There are some clothing stores on the boardwalk, but I doubt you have any money. And I don’t feel comfortable sending you to my place since it's not exactly close and you’ve never been on land before.” Lance furrows his brows, looking at Keith’s legs.”Wait….. where did you get those..?” He puts a hand on Keith’s thigh, pinching lightly at the shorts.

  
“There are other former mers who live up here. Usually, I think, they have enough warning to leave something out,” Keith replies with a shrug. He doesn’t know how things work down there, it was never his business to find out. Well, actually, since wanting to become human, maybe it had become his business. But he would never doubt his trust in Coran or the mers he keeps in touch with on land, anonymous as they may be. “I can look to see if anything else is stashed away near where Coran dropped me off to figure out my legs.”

  
“That sounds like a plan!” Lance has never been more thankful to know he’s going to get pants in his life. “So where was the drop-off point anyway?”

  
With a grand sweep of his arm, Keith motions off to the right. “It wasn't too far down that way. The pants were stored on a large rock formation up against the dry land. There could have been more things up there. I didn't stick around to find out.”

  
“Awesome!” Without much thought, Lance swims off to the aforementioned rock formation. Someone is awfully excited for a meaningless piece of cloth. Keith rolls his eyes, before shutting them tightly to dive beneath the waves once more in pursuit. It would have been slower to walk there with how Keith is on his new feet anyway.

  
The shallows by the rocks for once give Keith some reprieve as he scrambles up them, smooth and only slightly sharp. No aching scratches this time, thankfully. Using the rock formation to lean on, he makes his way to the spot the clothes were nestled against earlier. Carefully, he feels along the ledges with damp fingertips, frowning. Just before giving up, his fingertips hit something. His thumb and forefinger grip the material and he rubs it gently. It’s not quite smooth, in fact, he’d call it grainy as it moved against the pads of fingers. He leans up on his tip toes, pulling it down.

  
It’s pants. Thank god, it’s pants.

  
“I found some,” He announces, walking back towards the shallows.

  
“Perfect!” He pulls himself up onto the rocks, before fumbling with the shell container Coran had given him. How the hell does the thing open? He feels around the edges, brows knitting tightly together. Keith sets the clothes down on a short dry rock, before sitting by Lance. Quickly, he plucks the shell from Lance’s hand, tracing a gentle square pattern into it with an electric red glow emanating from his finger.

  
“Thanks..” Lance murmurs, awestruck by what he just witnessed. What even was that?

  
“No problem.” Keith stands again, going over to the rock he abandoned the clothes on. He takes his sweet time shimmying the shorts clinging tightly to his wet skin off, before sliding on a pair of basketball shorts he had found on the ledge.  
Lance watches him for a moment, before taking the shell and raising it to his lips. He downs the contents, nose wrinkling at the bitterness of the contents. As his tail splits into a pair of legs, he grips his arms tightly, teeth clenched tightly. He’s not going to whimper and whine if he can help it. He’s no baby, no matter how excruciating the process is. Thankfully, the sensation doesn’t last more than thirty seconds.

  
As soon as Lance has his legs, he scampers over to the pants laid out on the rocks and yanks them on. “You have no idea how much I’ve missed these things.”

  
“I really don't,” Keith agrees, legs trembling ever so slightly as he stands on them.

  
“I’m sure you’ll get used to them,” He dismisses, “Till then, I guess you’ll have to lean on me.” Sliding an arm under Keith’s, he pulls him close.

  
“I won't object to that.” Keith leans into his side, his arm moving to rest atop Lance’s shoulder. With a smirk, Lance seizes a given opportunity, sweeping Keith’s feet out from under him and cradling him bridal style against his chest. As he loses his footing, Keith gives a quiet yelp. For a split second, he contemplates yelling, but then realizes what this means. He won’t have to walk himself, his legs and feet get a break. So instead of yelling, he slides his arms around Lance’s neck, pressing gentle kisses to his jaw and cheek.

  
Lance presses a kiss to the top of Keith’s head, before starting the short walk to his apartment. “You’re staying with me for now on right? Or did you manage to find a place for yourself before all this?”

  
“I was hoping to crash at your place,” He admits, “But Coran did give me an address just in case that wasn't a plausible solution.”

  
“Well my door is wide open.” Lance can feel Keith’s smile against his jaw. “Do you even know what kind of place that address leads to?”

  
He shrugs, “All Coran said was that he stays there during his rare surface trips. That's all I know.” Any friend of Coran’s was a friend of Keith’s after all.

  
“Alright then. Ready to enter your new home?” Lance sets Keith down gently, before searching for where he left the spare key.

  
“Ready as I'll ever be,” He remarks, leaning against the side of the apartment.

  
“You know, it’s not much compared to that underwater castle,” There’s a light edge to his voice, despite how warm and loving it is. Nervousness, Keith guesses.

  
“It'll be better than the underwater castle,” Keith assures him, with a small lopsided smile, “I'll be with you.”

  
Lance grins brightly, cheeks flushing pale pink. “That is probably the most romantic thing anybody's ever said to me.” He stands up straight, having found the spare key.

  
“It might sound romantic, but I actually didn't like the castle much,” Keith leans up to give him a gentle peck on the lips, “But I do love you.”

  
“It seemed pretty nice to me, but I never had to live there.” He slides the key into the lock, though struggles to get the door open, it’s stuck. Ah, today really isn’t treating him well.

  
“You probably would have liked it there.” Lance is the more social between the two of them. He could handle all the social aspects that come with living in a mer community. Even if the merfolks hadn’t had a reason to dislike Keith from the start, people never were his strong suit.

  
“Then why didn’t you?” And of course his boyfriend would try to probe when he wants to stay intentionally vague. He doesn’t blame him, but it’s not a subject he’s ready to breech.

  
“I spent most of my time with Coran. While he's…. Interesting, it wasn't enough to make me want to stay down there with all the others.” At the end of the day, Keith really just didn't put in the effort to get to know anyone else. And they never tried to welcome him in either.

  
“Oh.” Lance pauses awkwardly, as he finally pushes the door he was fumbling with open, “Well, at least you’re here now.” He walks inside, rolling his shoulders back with a content sigh, “Make yourself at home! Mi casa es su casa,” He remarks, before making a bee-line directly for his bedroom. Lance has little intention of staying in these conveniently placed clothes any longer than he has to. It’s suspicious. Unsettling.

  
Keith simply flops down onto the couch, eyes widening. It’s so soft, he notes, grinning widely. He pokes gently at the plush material, mouth slightly agape.

  
“You look happy,” Lance remarks as he reenters the room.

  
Keith looks up at him with a bashful smile, “I’ve never sat on anything so comfortable before.” He’s positive couches are his second favorite thing. And that’s only because of how wrong it would be to favor a seat over the man he gave up his tail for.  
Lance quirks a brow, sitting down on the cushion next to Keith’s, who snuggles up to his side. “What’d you sit on before?”

  
“Rocks?” What else was there really down there?

  
Christ. Rocks. “That explains a lot. We definitely made the right choice in regards to land versus sea.” Lance takes Keith’s hand and squeezes it gently.

  
“It’s the rock chairs that assure you we made the right decision? Not the threat of sea monster attacks?” Keith deadpans, brows furrowing slightly.

  
“I am a very simple man Keith,” Lance retorts. Besides, the sea monster were kind of cool… when there wasn’t the risk of death.

  
He snorts in response, “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  
Lance smiles softly and grabs the tv remote from the back of the couch. He powers the TV and flips through the channels for a moment or two. Keith scrambles up from the couch, crawling over to the TV. He's practically nose-to-screen when asks, “What the hell is this thing?”

  
“A TV?”

  
“TV?” He repeats slowly, raising his brows.

  
Lance thinks for a moment, before shrugging, “I’m not really sure how to explain it. It lets you watch video, and streams live programming and stuff.”

  
With a pout, Keith’s nose wrinkled up in frustration and disgust. “That’s so weird.”

  
“And sea monsters are normal,” Lance retorts.

  
“But they _are_!” He argues, “There’s been at least ten sea monster attacks in my lifetime down there.” Well. Maybe attacks were rare, but sea monsters were part of everyday life. They were always on alert in case something were to go wrong.

“And pretty much every house has at least one TV.”

  
Keith huffs, returning to his spot on the couch and swinging his legs up onto Lance’s lap. “And it’s normal for people to just spend time staring at the colorful box?”

  
“Yeah, I knew you’d catch on!”

  
He shook his head. “Is it supposed to be entertaining?”

  
“Yeah,” Lance pauses, “Though it can really depend on the show.”

  
“If it's not entertaining then why would someone watch it….?” His brows knit together tightly as he speaks. He wonders if they have to watch. If it's like mer history, a required learning experience.

  
“No, no, no,” Lance shakes his head, “You only watch what’s entertaining, but not every show will be entertaining to you.”

  
“Riiiiight,” Keith sinks back into the couch, frowning slightly.

  
With a long drawn out sigh, Lance turns off the television. “Well, what did you do for entertainment?”

  
“Most of the time being bored meant swimming off to find things Coran needed for spells and stumbling upon things land dwellers lost. Or training with swords and easy magic spells,” Keith explains, watching his feet as he flexes his toes.  
Lance’s jaw drops, “Wait, you know magic?”

  
“I'm no where near as good as the older merfolk, but I can do some magic.” It's something most merfolk have a slight understanding of. Though, not all are proficient.

  
Lance’s eyes light up like a child’s on Christmas morning. He's dating a wizard merman, what's better than that? “Could you show me?”

  
“I don’t see why not,” Keith slides into his lap and thinks for a moment, trying to pick a simple spell. And then it hits him. He smiles softly, touching his forehead to Lance’s as he murmurs under his breath in a language Lance can't wrap his mind around. When he pulls away, his smile widens infinitely.

  
“What did you do…?” Lance raises an eyebrow as he notices a faint blue light that most certainly wasn't there before. He dashes to the bathroom, jaw dropping as he looks in the mirror. The first thing he notices is the bright glowing blue hair he now has. It matches the color his tail had glowed in the cave to a T. “ _Holy_ _shit_!”

  
“What do you think?” Keith pulls his knees up to his chest.

  
“This is _amazing_!” He closes the bathroom door behind him as he returns to the living area, biting his lip, “Though, I’m not sure how I’d explain glowing hair to the neighbors.”

  
“Well, that’s fixable. Hair wasn’t difficult to master.” Keith has fond memories of learning the spells with a friend, spending long hours altering the appearance and styles of each other’s hair.

  
“Difficult or not, it’s still pretty cool,” He assures, settling back into his spot on the couch. Keith immediately slides his legs back across Lance’s lap, snuggling up to him. He lightly threads his fingers through Lance’s hair, murmuring the words to a spell. He takes the glow from Lance’s hair, though leaves it bright blue.

  
“There’s cooler magic than that.”

  
“I don’t know,” Lance teases, “magic hairdressing seems pretty cool.” He pauses for a moment, glancing at Keith’s hair, “Though it makes me wonder why you keep that mullet…”

  
He raises a hand to touch the ends of his hair. “Why wouldn’t I keep it? You don’t change something that works, Lance.”

  
Skeptically, Lance mumbles, “. . . Riiiiight.” Well, maybe it doesn't actually look too bad on him. The mullet hadn't been a deal breaker after all. “So, what else is out there, aside from hair magic?”

  
“Just about everything really,” Keith says with a shrug, “Obviously merpeople can’t learn everything. Coran’s been alive for at least a few hundred years and he insists he’s still learning new things.”

  
Lance blinks a few times, “A few _hundred_ _years_?” Just how old is Coran then? Keith said at least a few hundred years, could it truly be more than that?

  
“Yeah. Mers live for a pretty long time. We’re basically immortal until something kills us-- well, _them_ , I guess.” Because Keith isn't a mer anymore. Right. He'd have to get used to that.

  
Lance toys with Keith’s toes idly since they're right there in his lap, “Do you know if you’re fully human or just like a mer with legs?”

  
“From what I was told, aside from the magic, I’ve got the full human package.”

  
“Woah.” After his moment of awe passes, a devious smirk spreads across Lance’s face. Keith raises an eyebrow, about to question him, but before he can he finds himself squirming and biting back laughter.  
“Lance. What the _fuck_?” He hisses, trying to catch his breath and escape.

  
“This is called tickling, and you made a dire mistake when you exposed these.” Lance’s grin widened as he continued his assault on Keith’s feet. Keith simply glares though his resounding laughter, biding his time until freedom. He’ll get Lance back for this later, he vows it.

  
This continues for another several minutes, before there was a loud pounding on the door. Lance sighs, pushing Keith’s feet from his lap to get the door. He was near certain he'd never get the chance to tickle Keith’s feet again. Damn. That was the easiest way to draw so much laughter out of Keith.

  
Keith lies back on the couch, staring at the ceiling. His eyes widen when he hears the words, “I’m here to see Keith.” He sits up abruptly, brows furrowed. How was he found here? It didn't make sense.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm really looking forward to writing more of this. The main plot with the faeries won't start up until chapter 3, but I hope you'll stick with it until then.


End file.
